Negi's Growth Spurt
by Kenshin Himura
Summary: Albert the ermine whips out a parchment, saying that it included ingredients for a potion that had the power to increase a mage's power greatly. Negi mixes the potion together and downs it. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the right affect on poor Negi.
1. Growing Pains

Disclaimer: I do not own Negima.

Tibby: I'm rolling in with several ideas. The only problem is that I start another one before I finish the one that preceded it and I haven't gotten far on those that I have come up with, this being my third one.

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The day had started out normal enough. Negi taught his class, though not without the usual hitches. It was when they returned home that the wheel of events began to turn. Konoka had not returned with them, instead deciding to hang out with Setsuna. She also mentioned that she might be spending the night elsewhere and not to worry if she didn't return that night. That left Negi, Asuna and Albert on their own.

The ermine mentioned that he had recently dug out an old parchment with ingredients listed to make a potion. This potion would supposedly increase the power of a magi exponentially.

"Just think, aniki! You could become even more powerful by drinking this potion! We should mix some up right away!" Albert exclaims eagerly from his perch (which was Negi's shoulder).

Negi looks over at his small friend, "So my spells would be stronger?"

Albert grins, "Not only that, but you should be able to cast a lot more spells than you can now. You'll have more magic than you know what to do with!"

The boy smiles brightly, balling his hands into eager fists, "Then lets get to work on making that potion!"

Asuna, who had been listening the entire time, gains a look of unease, "Are you sure about this? I mean, you don't exactly seem to have much luck when it comes to making potions. That love potion from awhile back was proof of that…."

The ermine looks over at Asuna, still appearing as confident as ever, "Don't worry so much, Ane-san! He has my help this time around, so things should turn out smoothly! Soon you won't have to worry so much about big brother here when he's by himself!"

She immediately turns her back to them, folding her arms, "Pah! Like I worry too much! It'll be nice not to have to come running to his aid all the time." Upon feeling their gaze on her back, she growls lightly and darts out, "I'm taking a shower and then delivering the evening paper! Don't disturb me while I'm showering or so help me…!"

Negi smiles nervously once she disappears, "Asuna-san really does worry too much." He turns back towards Albert, "Lets start gathering the ingredients for the potion. By the looks of it, we'll need to take a trip to the store to get a few of the ingredients and I would rather do that while it's still light outside." He gathers his robe and slips that on before grabbing his staff, his eyes traveling in the direction of the bathroom, "Shouldn't we tell Asuna-san that we're going? I don't want her to worry…."

Albert waves his paw, "It'll be fine! It's not like we'll be gone for too long anyway."

Negi nods before casting another glance at the bathroom door as he quickly makes his way out the front with Albert on his shoulder. They returned later to a thrashing from Asuna however, who had been worried over him disappearing. After some apologizing from Negi, she had calmed down and he immediately began to work on the potion with the ingredients they had gathered.

Asuna, now in her pajamas, watches him from her position on her bed. Since he was in his small study area, they were basically even in height from the floor. She looks from the potion to the back of his head, "And you're positive that this will do what it's supposed to?"

He glances over his shoulder at her and nods, "Yes, it should. As long as I get all of the ingredients right and in the right amounts, it should work."

"And if it doesn't?" she questions somewhat hesitantly.

He smiles nervously, "Well, we would be seeing what'll happen for ourselves. Hopefully it won't be too bad. But things should be fine!"

She slips under the covers, looking away for the time-being, "If you say so, but don't come crying to me if things don't work out the way they should." She closes her eyes, "I'm going to sleep, so try to keep for the most part quiet."

Negi complies silently before once again focusing his complete attention on the potion. Within another hour or so of adding, mixing and heating, the potion was complete.

The boy smiles brightly at the accomplishment, "We're done!"

Albert, who had been off to the side reading off the ingredients, hops onto Negi's shoulder and looks at the steaming vial of a reddish liquid, "Make sure you wait until it cools down a bit before drinking it, aniki. It would be a shame if you burned your mouth."

Negi yawns before climbing down onto ground level and searching for his own pajamas in effort to pass some time while waiting for the potion to cool. Upon finding them, he undresses and then dresses into them, all the while making sure that Asuna was sleeping. He climbs back up into his study area and tests the vial's temperature, only to find that it was still a little too warm. He sighs, picks a book off of the shelf and begins to read, occasionally stealing glances at Asuna while deep in thought, _'I wonder what would happen to her once my powers get stronger. Will she be stronger too because of it? I really hope so. Afterall, she's my closest partner and I don't want to go on ahead without her.'_

"Aniki, the potion's cooled down enough I think! Hurry up and down it so that we can see the results quicker!" Albert shouts, although quietly as not to disturb Asuna from her slumber.

Negi nods and sets down the book he had been reading before reaching over and gently taking the vial. He swirls it around a bit, staring at it deeply, "Even if I drink this, everything aside from my power will remain the same, right?"

The ermine blinks, "What do you mean?"

The boy shrugs, "Like I'll look the same and act the same. I know I'll be getting a lot of power, but I don't want that to change anything about me or about how people will act around me. I want life to remain the same as it is now, even with that power."

The talking animal laughs a bit, patting the back of Negi's head fondly, "It'll be fine! If anything other than your power will change, it'll be that you're kicking butt even more and harder than before!"

At Albert's reassurance, Negi smiles before returning his eyes to the vial, "Bottom's up then." He tilts back his head slightly before bringing the vial to his lips and slowly drinking it. As was to be expected, it did not have a pleasant taste and Negi's face scrunches up after finishing, "I don't think I want to have that stuff again."

"So, how are you feeling aniki?" Albert questions, looking the boy over a little.

Negi raises his hands in front of him and looks at his palms, "I don't feel any different. I would've thought that I was supposed to feel some sort of surge of power, but I guess not. Maybe we did something wrong?" He picks up the parchment and looks over it, although his eyes were beginning to cloud over a bit from drowsiness. He rubs at his eyes with the back of his hand, "Eh, we'll figure this out tomorrow. I'm getting rather tired right now. Let's just sleep on it and see if anything feels different tomorrow."

With that said, he climbs down while Albert remained behind to clean up. The boy slides under the covers of his futon and lies on his back for awhile before rolling over onto his stomach. He buries his face into his pillow a little before slowly dozing off, followed by Albert within a few minutes.

However, he wakes up a little after one in the morning with his body in serious pain. He grimaces, tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes, "It… hurts…." His words were in a barely audible whisper, him being in too much pain to want to talk anyway. He whimpers softly, his dark eyes traveling up to Asuna's bunk as he forces his body to begin moving, _'I know Asuna-san doesn't like me crawling into her bed… but I hurt so much…! I might feel better with her… like I would with my sister….'_

He slowly and achingly begins rising to his feet, not noticing at the moment that his pajamas were rather tight on him. The boy drags himself up the ladder with a pillow in hand and upon reaching the top, quietly and carefully lies himself down next to her. He sets the pillow under his head and slips under the covers. He shuts his eyes tightly in pain, whimpering again before rolling over onto his side and hugging her. He had started to cry softly, not understanding why he was hurting so much.

Asuna wakes slightly and looks at him, her eyes half-lidded, "Wha…?"

Negi looks up at her, looking nothing short of pathetic with his cheeks wet from tears, "A-Asuna-san… please… just tonight… let me sleep here just tonight….." He buries his face just below her collar bone, shutting his eyes tightly again as well as tightening his hug.

She blinks, partially conscious and her tired eyes widen slightly upon realizing that his body was quivering. Not feeling up to thrashing him from both exhaustion and sympathy, she surprisingly wraps her arms around him, "Fine… just tonight though since you don't look too good…." She closes her oddly-colored eyes once more, returning to an unconscious state within moments.

Negi's lips twitch into a faint smile and would have been amused at Asuna's quickness to fall back to sleep if it weren't for the pain he was in. He remains cuddled up against her, feeling comforted in some way, shape or form. Although he continues to be in a great deal of agony, he ends up falling back asleep after an half an hour or so. They both would be in for a _big _surprise when they woke up later that morning….


	2. Rude Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own Negima.

Tibby: Just a small note here. I know they have public showers, but I'm not sure how the whole bathroom/restroom thing goes. For now, until I find out anything at least, I'll assume that each dorm room at least has one like with a toilet and sink. If anyone knows, please tell me and I'll change the small part in this chapter involving it.

Sorry for being slow with chapters. My health hasn't been the best as of late, both mentally and physically. Then my friend ended up getting me into World of Warcraft and I became slightly addicted to that. Not horribly though. I still got sleep, food and I went to class.

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Asuna's alarm clock begins to buzz around nine that morning, being that she did not have a paper route today. She stirs and reaches over blindly, hitting the snooze button. The girl groans softly, snuggling more under the covers before realizing that arms were wrapped around her. She opens her eyes, blinking once before they widen in alarm, "W-WHAT!?"

In Negi's place was a young man, appearing to be at least eighteen. He was snuggled up against her with his chin resting on the top of her head and seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully. What Asuna had noticed was that the man wasn't wearing a shirt and it was her assumption that he wasn't wearing anything else either.

A scream erupts from her before she immediately begins whaling on him, "PERVERT! Get OUT of my BED!"

Her efforts end up sending the man flying over the edge and onto the floor, which definitely counted as a rude awakening. He whines, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, "But you said I could last night, Asuna-san… and since when am I a pervert?"

She leans over the edge of her bed, peering at him in confusion, "Huh? Negi? Wait, this doesn't make sense. Did you take one of those age-changing pills again?"

He looks up at her, an equally confused expression plastered on his face, "Eh? No, I didn't. Why do you…-?" He stops mid-sentence and looks down at himself, his eyes widening in surprise, "EH!? B-But how did I… why am I grown up!?"

Asuna blushes and covers her eyes, "Put some clothes on!"

For the first time, Negi notices that he doesn't have a shred of clothing on and his face heats up. His eyes dart around before he grabs the blanket from his futon and covers his lower half of his body at least, "I'm sorry!"

Albert had woken up by this time and now walks around Negi, inspecting him, "Wow, it seems that the potion made you grow instead of your powers!" He laughs, "Too bad your clothes didn't grow with you!"

Negi's face flushes darker and he hunches over, his hands resting on his ankles which were under the blanket, "It's not funny, Kamo-kun! This is a real problem! I don't think we have any clothes that'll fit me and I can't be a sensei looking like this either!"

The ermine shrugs lightly before climbing up onto Negi's shoulder, "Let's just wait this out. With any luck, it'll be just like those age-changing pills and it'll wear off in a few hours."

The now teenaged boy sighs, looking at his palms, "I hope so. Being older just for a few hours was fun and everything before because I knew that I would be changing back. Right now though, I'm a little more than nervous…."

Asuna watches him silently for a few seconds before sighing herself and descending the ladder, "I'm sure you'll be fine, stupid Negi. What did I tell you before you made the potion? I can rightfully say that I told you so. You might want to give up on making potions, seeing as they've been causing nothing but trouble."

He looks up at her, his eyes tearing up again, "But I was sure it was fine and I wanted to do something to help so that everyone will be safer! I thought that if I were stronger, then it would help everyone else to be stronger with the pactio and all…."

She stands near him, her eyes trained onto his now older form. He looked exactly as he did on their practice date, only his features were a little sharper. In no way did he retain any of his youth-like cuteness, which was a rather depressing change. And then the crying… she hated it when he cried and always felt the urge to hold him whenever he did. Not in an intimate way of course! She watches as he continues to worry over his predicament and hears him sniffle occasionally. Her eyes soon fall closed and she reaches over, resting her hand on his head.

Asuna opens an eye to see him looking up at her in surprise and ruffles his hair fondly, "Look, you. You were completely fine as it was. I don't know what was going through your head to make you think that you needed to be stronger for the rest of us. You can really act so idiotic sometimes! You know that? I mean, we all look to you for guidance and don't ask for anything more from you. Everyone that does know your secret already thinks that you're really strong and even I think that you're a little too good for your age." She glares off to the side, blushing lightly, "You're just too stubborn and childish to realize some things that are going on around you. You really should pay attention more!"

Negi continues to stare up at her, wide-eyed in astonishment, "A-Asuna-san…"

The two seem to have a silent staring contest before Asuna turns away in a hurry and walks off, her face red, "Stop looking at me with that grown up face of yours! You look weird!"

Negi blinks, pointing to himself in confusion, "I look weird…?"

Albert chuckles, his eyes glinting mischievously, "Actually, I believe you're affecting her aniki. I think she likes--!" He's interrupted when Asuna sends him flying with her freshly summoned fan-like weapon.

"-to **beat **obnoxious little ermines that talk too much!" she finishes for him, still brandishing the weapon. The fan disappears from her hand and she heads over to her dresser, ignoring the mangled ermine that was plastered to the wall next to it. She pulls out some clothes and heads towards the bathroom to get dressed in private.

Negi peels Albert from the wall and holds him in the palms of his hands, looking down at him, "Hey, she didn't hurt you _too _badly, did she?"

Albert twitches, his whiskers and tail bent at odd angles, "I felt rage behind it… Ane-san is scary…."

Negi smiles nervously, "Yes, she is whenever she's angry. I somehow always manage to make her mad, even when I try my hardest not to. She works great as a partner though…."

Asuna comes back out a little while later, fully dressed and with her hair put up in its usual style. She walks over to Negi and stops next to him, "Do me a favor and stand up."

Negi blinks before obliging her request, accidentally forgetting to hold something up in the process.

She suddenly blushes a bright red before hiding her eyes with one hand and waving frantically with the other hand, "**THE BLANKET! GET THE BLANKET STUPID!**"

He yelps before quickly reaching down and grabbing the blanket, immediately wrapping his lower half again. His face matched hers in shade, "I'm s-sorry! I didn't even think a-and… a-anyway, it's safe now." He looks down, his face still flushed in embarrassment.

She uncovers her eyes and looks, though her blush had yet to lessen either. She blinks and tilts her head up to look at him, not accustomed to having to look up instead of down. He had grown taller than her and even taller than he was during their practice date. Then, she had reached around his eyes in height. Now that he had grown more, she was only reaching his shoulders. When he was just 10, it was the other way around.

He cautiously flicks his gaze up at her from the floor, "Why did you want me to stand up…?"

Asuna snaps out of her daze before smiling nervously, her hands going behind her back, "Eh, I just wanted to see how tall you are compared to me now. Before, you were only at my shoulder and now, it seems like we switched places!" She whirls around, showing her back to him, "I was also wanting to get an estimate so that I can go out and get you some clothes. We can't have you run around without any clothes on! Everything's just so weird now…."

"Heh, yeah. It _is _weird," comes Negi's voice from behind her and she looks at him over her shoulder.

He smiles warmly at her, "I mean, all this time I've been looking up to you and now I'm having to look down. Everything looks a lot smaller than it did before and here I am, in my birthday suit. Some of it would be almost funny, but it's more embarrassing than anything." He lets out a short and nervous laugh, a hint of red on his cheeks.

Her face becomes flushed again, though she hides it by facing the other way, "All of it's funny to me! This is what you get for not listening to me. I _knew_ something like this would happen."

The teenaged boy sighs and shrugs, looking off to the side, "Yes, well, it was worth a shot I guess. I just really hope that things will return to normal very soon. If they don't, then I'll have to quit teaching and move back to Wales." His eyes begin filling with tears again at the thought of having to quit teaching and also moving back. He did not want to leave all of his students, his new friends behind.

Her temple throbs at hearing more sniffling and she whirls around, slamming her fist into his head in one fluid moment, "Why are you crying!? The world's not ending! You're not dying! I'm positive that you'll find some way to turn yourself back. You're like a freakin' weasel anyway with getting yourself out of trouble. Such a nuisance, I swear…."

She glances down at his still tear-filled eyes and sighs in exasperation before resting a hand on the top of his head and ruffling his hair lightly again, "Calm down. Trust me when I say that you will eventually turn back to your old, brat self. Learn to relax a bit too, otherwise you could miss something important even if it happens right in front of you. You're still a kid, although currently you don't have the body of a child. Just… no sense in worrying. How about we go out today? I mean, if it'll get your mind off of things that is! It won't be a _date _or anything!"

He looks surprised for a moment or two before smiling brightly, his cheeks lightly flushed, "That… that would be nice, Asuna-san!" His faces heats up more as he becomes more self-conscious, "W-Well as soon as I get clothes, that is…."

Asuna's cheeks darken a shade as well, "Yes, of course. Going out in the town like that… it's illegal." She pulls out a small purse and digs inside of it, counting how much money she has. After doing so, she looks at Negi, "Care to donate some money to get you some clothes? After all, it _is _your fault that you're stuck like this in the first place and the clothes _are _for you."

'_Aha… so she wasn't just going to do it solely from the kindness of her heart. I should have known_,' Negi thinks, smiling nervously. '_Then again, asking her to pay for all of it would be rude since it was my mistake that caused this._' He carefully makes his way over to his large bag that he often carried with him and sits down before beginning to rummage through it for his wallet, "Sure thing. Don't buy me anything fancy or expensive. Simple clothes will do, though I need shoes…." He pulls out his wallet, opening it up and pulling out some money, "I wonder what shoe size I wear now…."

"_Eh… aniki…? Oh, what a headache,_" comes the voice of Albert. Apparently, he had finally come to from Asuna's assault earlier. He staggers over by Negi, rubbing his throbbing head with his paw, "Did I hear you two correctly about getting new clothes?"

Negi looks down at him, "Yeah. I can't go around without any clothes and all my old ones obviously won't fit me anymore."

"… why don't you just use the clothes from before when you took the age-changing candy drops?" the ermine questions. "They should fit you for the most part. You're a _little _taller than you were with them, but it shouldn't prove much of a problem."

Both Negi and Asuna's eyes widen before slowly turning to each other, pointing at one another.

"Why didn't you think of it?" Negi questions.

"Whaddya mean 'why didn't you think of it'!? Why didn't _**you** _think of it!? I'm not the one who wore the clothes and I'm not the one with the problem!" she retorts, greatly irritated.

Negi twitches and waves his arms around a bit, "But I've been too frazzled to think all morning! Waking up like this isn't exactly an everyday thing and it's far from relaxing!"

Asuna glares at him, her face turning nearly the color of Negi's hair, "Well, waking up with a grown man cuddling up with you isn't exactly comforting either, y'know!?"

Albert sighs, watching them, "Settle down you two before one of you ends up in the hospital, which I have a feeling will be Negi." He looks up at the red-haired boy, "Go get some clothes on so you don't have to keep yourself wrapped up in a blanket."

With that said, Negi retrieves one of the few outfits he had stored away in the event that he took the age-changing pills and slinks into the bathroom. He comes back out roughly five or so minutes later, looking a little disturbed, "While we're out, I need to pick up some new pants. These are actually a little tight now, though I should be fine." He whines slightly, not liking this predicament. Why couldn't he just have grown to be about 15 instead of going all the way to 18? His shirt was a little too short for his liking, though it would have to do. His stomach was still hidden, that is unless he decided to raise his arms.

"So your pants are tight…? Eheheh…" Albert says, pondering with a mischievous grin as he rubs his chin.

Asuna catches Albert's comment, immediately realizing what was meant by it. She blushes brightly before growling and grabbing Albert tightly around where his neck would be, bringing him up in front of her face, "Don't corrupt Negi, you erotic ermine! It's enough that I have to deal with one pervert!"

Negi watches on cluelessly as Asuna shakes Albert, slightly extending his hand as if to stop her but too afraid to do so, "U-Uh guys…? Please no fighting… blood should be left _inside _our bodies…."

"The walls could use a touch of red…" Asuna mutters before abruptly dropping Albert, who immediately hides behind Negi. She moves to the front door in a hurry before glaring back at Negi, "What are you waiting for? We're still going out, aren't we?"

Negi blinks before smiling happily and grabbing his wallet, "Yes! Of course! Just let me get my shoes on real quick!" As swiftly as he can, he slips socks over his feet and then attempts to slip his feet into his shoes that he wore while under the affect of the age-changing candy drops… only to find that the shoes were now a little too small. He looks over at Asuna, close to tears, "My shoes won't fit!"

"Simple problem. Fold the backs of your shoes in so that you can rest your heel on them," she replies. For once, she actually beat Negi at wits and was quite pleased with herself.

Negi does so and smiles before standing up again, having needed to sit down to put his shoes on, "It worked! Now if only you could think up solutions this quickly in class!"

Asuna twitches angrily, "Do you make it a point to irritate me at least once a day?" She storms out, leaving the door wide open.

Albert climbs up and onto Negi's shoulder, his eyes trained on Asuna's retreating back, "Good luck with this one, aniki. I think I'm going to sit out for this round and try to find a way for you to turn back to normal."

"You just don't want to deal with Asuna-san while she's angry," Negi says quietly.

Albert smiles and winks, flashing a thumbs up, "Bingo."

Negi groans before setting Albert down in the doorway, "Now behave while we're out and let Konoka-san know what's going on so she doesn't worry. If you can, please try to figure out a way to change me back."

"Will do!" Albert says with a salute. "Good luck with your date."

"Thanks… though it's not a date…" Negi says before leaving to try and track down Asuna. Hopefully she wouldn't try to punch him through the pavement or something….


End file.
